GIGW 3.0

Scope and Objective

This document recommends policies and guidelines for Indian Government websites and Applications at any organisational level and belonging to both Central Government as well as State Governments (including district administrations and local
governments) for making Indian government websites/apps user-centric, more user-friendly and secure. Conformity with these guidelines will ensure a high degree of consistency and uniformity in the content coverage, presentation security
and accessibility and promote excellence in government solutions in the Indian web space.

These guidelines address common issues and practical challenges that government organisations face during development and management of their websites/apps. The guidelines aim to assist government organisations in ensuring that their websites/apps
conform to a consistently high standard. This is expected to enhance the trust level of the citizens while accessing government information and availing of services online.

1. Conformity to guidelines

   These guidelines have been framed with the objective to make the government websites/apps conform to the essential prerequisites of the UUU trilogy of usability, user-centricity and universal accessibility.

   These guidelines are based on international standards, including ISO 23026, W3C’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1) Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, as well as the Information Technology Act, 2000. Further,
   the long-standing experience of the authors in the design, development and management of government websites/apps as well as their knowledge of the ground realities and challenges faced by government organisations in developing
   and managing their websites/apps, have helped significantly in drafting these guidelines.

   These guidelines also form the basis for obtaining the Website Quality Certification from the STQC Directorate. Details of the certification scheme are available at https://www.stqc.gov.in/website-quality-certification-0.

   These guidelines are being circulated amongst all Indian government organisations at all levels (Central, State and district/local). These should be followed and implemented on priority so that the overall aim of making all Indian government websites/apps citizen-focussed and user-friendly may be realised.

2. How to use GIGW 3.0

   Government organisations are expected to read, understand and implement these guidelines on all of their web-based initiatives. In other words, all the websites/apps owned by government organisations must comply with these guidelines. It is recommended that browser-based intranet applications should also follow these guidelines. Depending upon their specific requirements, government organisations may draw up short-term and long-term timebound implementation plans for achieving conformity with these guidelines.